What is an L-Book?

Pioneering the way we read and learn – the L-Book is a new digital reading format based on industry standards such as ePUB3, MOBI or PDF that enables the in-context embedding of reference content and the automatic generation of learning materials.

In the digital age, it is not enough to simply provide your texts in a digital format. Readers now expect your content to offer them more than just what they see on the page. An L-Book lets you add substantial value to your content in a standardized annotation process that helps keep production costs at a minimum.

Any type of text – whether a novel, technical manual, magazine, corporate leaflet or whatever content you have – can be converted into an L-Book. All you need is corresponding reference content, which you probably already have, structured in the form of a termbase, which we can do for you or help you with. Our NLP-based annotation tools do the rest.

What advantages do content-owners and readers get out of L-Books? Enhanced reading and learning.

Enhanced reading

The L-Book is a new digital reading format created by L-Pub. It is essentially an enhanced e-book that provides readers with a real reason to read (and buy) digital – to get information at their fingertips which a paper product cannot provide and other digital formats do not deliver in a way that is curated.

Digital natives are familiar with the ability to retrieve information with the touch of their finger. When they do that in your current digital content, however, they are typically retrieving information from outside of your carefully curated text.

L-Books change that. They keep your readers in your product and let you offer them meaningful reference content at their fingertips.

The reference content you provide can be text-based or also based on images, sound or video. The information is stored in a termbase with a standardized format.

Read more about L-Books for enhanced reading on our page L-Book Classic.

Enhanced learning

Based on the same annotations we create for the reference content of your L-Books, we can also create personalized learning materials. This is not only relevant for educational publishers or institutes. By integrating learning features in your content, almost any content owner can reach new audiences:

People studying or learning about your area of specialty who are not familiar with your terminology

Learning in an L-Book is easy. Anytime a reader selects a word or phrase, they can add that term to their personal learning list simply by clicking the plus symbol. Later, or whenever they want, the reader can switch from the reading to the learning mode to:

Access their personal list of terms to learn

Start a series of automatically generated exercises which get increasingly difficult as the learner improves (read more about this on our page Automated learning)

Keep track of their progress as they commit more and more of their personal learning list to memory

Learning in a relevant context is always more fulfilling and efficient than working through a list of isolated words or concepts. An L-Book transforms any sentence and its reference content into a series of exercises. This is made possible thanks to a standardized NLP-based process developed by L-Pub, which is cost-efficient for content-owners and delivers significant value to your customers.

L-Books enable in-context learning: readers practice words they selected from the reading text in the same context, here, for example to learn German.

What kinds of L-Books are there?

We differentiate between three basic types of L-Book:

L-Book Classic: An L-Book consisting of a reading mode with a curated auxiliary level of reference content, but no learning features. Supported formats: ePUB3, MOBI, PDF.

L-Book Lite: This is an L-Book without the reading mode, providing only the reference content and/or a learning mode specific to a certain book (e.g. for readers of paper books). Supported formats: iOS, Android.

L-Book Pro: This is basically L-Book Classic and L-Book Lite combined in one ecosystem. The advantages are greater user-friendliness and easier control of data and sales. Supported formats: ePUB3, PDF, iOS, Android, Browser.

You can try out our prototype of an L-Book Pro for learning German here.

How is an L-Book made?

The reference content your readers will see is decided by you or your author in a standardized process. It’s easier than you may think, since you probably already have most of the information at hand. All you have to do is provide the reference content to us in simply structured format we call a termbase. We can also help with the generation of your termbase, if you prefer.

In L-Books for language learning, we provide the termbase, all you may want to do is help us define book-specific words like character names or places.

These are the steps in detail:

Decision: You contact us to discuss which titles you would like to convert into L-Books.

Submission: We draft a pre-production contract to allow us to receive your texts.

Quote: We generate a cost estimate based on the texts you provide and the annotations you would like to make. The production contract is signed.

Termbase: We provide you with simple instructions on how to prepare a content-specific termbase or you ask us to create the termbase for you based on information you provide us with. In the case of L-Book for foreign language acquisition, we do most of this step for you.

Annotation: Once we have the approved termbase, we perform the annotation to create the L-Book, using natural language processing in our customized workflow.

Delivery: Your L-Book is done and ready to sell!

How is an L-Book sold & read?

Marketing: In your promotion of the L-Book and on its inner title pages, you indicate it is an “L-Book”. Our brand-neutral website www.L-Book.info explains to your customer what this means and how they can access the L-Book functions.

Sales: You sell the L-Book Classic through all of your usual e-book channels. The L-Book Lite is sold via smartphone app stores, either via the L-Pub developer account or your own. The L-Book Pro is typically sold via your own store. We agree together on the price for each L-Book format.

Compatibility: L-Book Classic can be read with any device or app that supports regular e-books. L-Book Lite is used on an iOS or Android device. L-Book Pro is read on a dedicated app or in a browser, depending on your existing platform or specific requirements.

We understand that you may prefer to have your readers use a company branded L-Reader platform to keep them focused on your brand. Please ask us about our white label solutions for the L-Reader website and app.

How much does it cost to create an L-Book?

The production costs for an L-Book are calculated based on a cluster of variables:

The length of your book

The number of unique words to be annotated

The number of unrecognized words (e.g. book-specific names of people or places)

Whether you provide us with definitions and translations of the missing termbase entries according to specification, or we need to create the new termbase entries ourselves

You can get a better idea of cost variables and recoupment prognoses with our ROI calculator.

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L-Reader

L-Book Pro

About the “L”

L-Pub stands for “Learning Publications”, which encompasses not only the typical understanding of learning, but any action by readers to still their curiosity.

Our core product is the L-Book, a new standard in digital reading created by L-Pub. Based on our core competences in natural language processing and termbase structuring, we offer a range of products and services to content owners across all genres and sectors.

Creating a “termbase”

Even if you do not yet have a termbase (a database with reference content), you probably already have much of the content needed to create one. L-Pub can help you create a termbase using different tools and strategies. Learn more on the page Termbase services.

Get a quote

Are you interested in producing L-Books or other services? Get in touch so we can start the conversation!

L-Pub

LEARNING TECHNOLOGIES & SERVICES

L-Pub stands for “Learning Publications”, which encompasses learning in the traditional sense as well as simply giving readers access to relevant, in-context information. That’s what the “L” in L-Pub is all about: letting readers still their curiosity.

Our core product offer to content owners is the L-Book, a new standard in digital reading created by L-Pub. Based on our core competences in natural language processing and termbase structuring, we also offer a range of related services to content owners across all genres and sectors.